Education

Ph.D., Syracuse University, 2023
M.A., Maryland Institute College of Art, 2017
B.F.A., Syracuse University, 2009

About

Alexa R. Kulinski is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at Herron School of Art and Design at IU Indianapolis. She holds a PhD in Teaching and Curriculum with a specialization in Art Education from Syracuse University, a master's degree in Art Education from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and a bachelor's degree in Art Education with a concentration in painting from Syracuse University.

Prior to joining Herron's faculty as an Assistant Professor, Alexa worked as a public school K-12 Visual Arts teacher for over a decade. Her research interests include visual journals, comics and graphic novels, arts-based research, narrative inquiry, teacher education, and contemporary artmaking practices.

Awards + Grants

  • Indiana University Indianapolis Center for Teaching and Learning + match from Herron School of Art and Design, Curriculum Enhancement Grant, 2024.
  • Indiana University Presidential Arts and Humanities Program, Conference and Workshop Travel Grant, 2024.
  • Syracuse University, Summer Dissertation Fellowship, 2023.
  • Enfield Foundation for Educational Excellence (EFEE), "Artistic Books for Our Community" book printing award, 2020.
  • Tobacco Valley Teachers Federal Credit Union, "Artistic Books for Our Community" teacher grant, 2018.
  • Enfield Foundation for Educational Excellence (EFEE), creation of JFK School Murals award, 2015.

Recent Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations and Sessions

  • “Material portraiture: Researching through and with material,” Twentieth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana, IL, 2024.
  • “Revision as provocation for arts-based exploration,” Twentieth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana, IL, 2024.
  • “Leveraging contemporary artmaking practices in art teacher preparation and PK-12 art curriculum,” National Art Education Association Convention, Minneapolis, MN, 2024.
  • with Rolling, J. H., Stabler, A. Bailey, I., Hsieh, K., Bae-Dimitriadis, M., Maloney Leaf, B., Traynham, M., Schull, N., & Kundu Little, R., “Stories from a special issue of Studies in Art Education on antiracist strategies and interventions,” National Art Education Association Convention, Minneapolis, MN, 2024.
  • “Revision as provocation for arts-based exploration,” National Art Education Association Preconvention, Minneapolis, MN, 2024.
  • “Material portraiture: Researching through and with material,” National Art Education Association Preconvention, Minneapolis, MN, 2024.
  • with Willcox, L., Nemeth, J., Misch, A., Updike, A., Van Renterghem, O., Bravo, T, Evans, J., Hanfland, L., Luros, M., & Miller, G., “New artists & new voices: Herron preservice teachers sharing lessons inspired by contemporary artists,” Art Education Association of Indiana Convention, Mooresville, IN., 2023.
  • with Prater, M., Richardson, H., & Willcox, L., “AI and the art teacher: Questions and applications for the use of AI,” Art Education Association of Indiana Convention, Mooresville, IN., 2023.
  • “Stories we live by: Exploring graphic novels with high schoolers,” School of Education Graduate Student Research Symposium, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2023.
  • “The matter of artmaking and teaching: Exploring preservice teachers’ perceptions and uses of matter in artmaking, reflection, and curriculum-making,” National Art Education Association Convention, San Antonio, TX, 2023.
  • “Stories we live by: Exploring and making comics with high schoolers,” National Art Education Association Convention, San Antonio, TX, 2023.
  • “Exploring the web of Whiteness in K-12 art education,” National Art Education Association 2023 Research Preconference, online, 2023.
  • “Visual journals and your teaching practice,” New York State Art Teachers Association Conference, Binghamton, NY, 2022.
  • with Rolling, J. H., DiOdoardo, E., & Caldwell, H., “Using narrative and storytelling for research and resilience during a difficult year in art teaching,” National Art Education Association Convention, New York, NY, 2022.

Publications

  • Kulinski, A. R. (2023). Stories we live by: Exploring graphic novels with high schoolers. In Art Education, 76(6), 24-31. doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2023.2260282
  • Kulinski, A. R. (2023). Moments of becoming artist-teachers. In Marilyn Zurmuehlen Working Papers in Art Education, 2023(1), 1-30. doi.org/10.17077/2326-7070.33683
  • Kulinski, A. R. (2023). Finding my way: Using visual journals to forge a path of resilience and resistance. In International Journal of Education & the Arts, 24(12), 1-43. doi.org/10.26209/ijea24n12
  • Kulinski, A. R. (2023). Threads of the white web: Exposing and contesting the hegemony of whiteness in art education. In Studies in Art Education, 64(2), 169-180. doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2023.2180252
  • Kulinski, A. R. (2018). Awakening the creative problem solver. In Art Education, 71(5), 42-47. doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2018.1482165

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • The Shape of Memories—The Loft Artists Association, Stamford, CT, 2019
  • Seventh Annual Juried Multimedia Exhibit—Arts Center East, Vernon, CT, 2018
  • MAAE Thesis Show—Riggs and Leidy Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD, 2017
  • Artist-Teacher—Center for Art Education Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD, 2017
  • Sixth Annual Juried Multimedia Exhibit—Arts Center East, Vernon, CT, 2017